Draft-beam attachment for railway-cars



(No Model.)

M. J. HOEY. DRAFT BEAM ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY CARS.

No. 593,097 Patented Nov! 2, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT rerun.

MICHAEL J. HOEY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

DRAFT-BEAM ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SIEEGIFIOATIONfdrming part of Letters Patent No. 593,097, dated November 2, 1897.

Application filed May 3, 1897. Serial No. 635,440. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known thatl, MICHAEL J. Hour, a citizen of the United States,residing at Columbus, county of Franklin, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful I unprovements in Draft-Beam Attachments for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to draft-beam attachments for railway-cars, and has for its object to avoid passing the draft-beam bolts through the draft-sills; to render the pulling strain of the draw-bars continuous from one end of the car to the other; to render the draft-beams interchangeable, whereby they may be used right and left, and to improve, simplify, and render more strong and durable this class of draft devices generally.

To these ends my invention consists in the features and in the combination, arrangement, and construction of parts hereinafter described, and set forth with particularity in the claims following the description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved draft-bea1n applied to the draft-sills. Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the stirrupcastings, and Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the followers.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the dead-block, 2 the end sill, and 3 the draft-sills, all constructed and arranged as usual.

The draft-beam comprises two irons 4, each consisting of a central web 5 and lateral flanges 6. As one of these draft-irons is the exact duplicate of the other, the attachment of one only need be described in detail, and for the sakeof clearness either one or both of these draft-irons will hereinafter be referred to as the draft-beam.

The forward end of the draft-beam is attached to the dead-block 1 by bolts 7, which also pass through the carry-irons 8, arranged on the under side of the draft and which supports the forward end of the draw-bar 9. Bolts 10 pass through the end sill 2 and through the draft-beam. The rear ends of the draft-irons are provided with lateral lugs 11 and are attached to the draft-sills 3 by stirrup-castin g is provided at its slotted ends 7 with a square recess or cavity 18, in which the heads of the stirrup-bolts are adapted to seat, and is provided with longitudinal ribs 19 to afiord strength and stiffness to the casting. The stirrup-castings are countersunk into the draft-sills, as most clearly shown in Fig. 1, and are held in place by lugs extending each side ofthe draft-sills. Stirrup-bolts 20 are placed endwise in the slotted ends of the stirrup-castings, and their heads drop down into the recesses 18. The bolts pass down each side of the sills and extend through the draftbeam and through the follower guide-straps 21, arranged on the under side of the draftbeam. There is one such guide-strap for each draft-iron, as most clearly shown in Fig. 2, and between the guide-straps and the top web of the draft-irons are arranged the followers 22. lhe adjacent faces of the followers are provided with teats or bosses 23, over which are arranged coiled springs 24.. A yoke 25 embraces the followers and is attached to the rear end of the draw-bar 9, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the springs give a yielding strain to the draw-bar both in pulling and backing.

A safety-key 26 passes through the draw-bar and through coincident elongated slots 27, formed in the draft-beam, and operates to prevent the draw-bar from pulling out should the draw-bar attachment break.

In order to prevent any endwise movement of the draft-beam, Iform ribs 28 on the upper sides of the latter, which are mortised into the under side of the draft-sills, as shown.

By constructing and attaching the draftbeam in the manner described I avoid passing the draft-bolts through the draft-sills, a most serious objection, as the draft-bolts by the constant buffing and pulling strains wear the bolt-holes in the draft-sills oblong and render the attachment useless in a short time. By attaching the draft-beam to the subsills by the strap-bolts, as shown, the pullsisting of a rectangular plate having slots in ing strain of the draw-bars is rendered continuous from one end of the car to the other.

Another important advantage resulting from the improved construction described resides in the fact that the draft-irons are interchangeable from either right or left, as by means of the webbed ironsand thefollower guide-straps both sides of the draft-irons are adapted for the support of the followers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A draft-bearn consisting of two parallel draft-irons, follower guide-straps arranged beneath the draft-irons, stirrup-castings projecting beyond the opposite sides of the draftsills, stirrup-bolts extending through said stirrup-straps and through the draft-irons and follower guide-straps, in combination with followers arranged between the follower guide-straps and the topsof the draft-irons and coiled springs disposed between said followers, substantially as described.

2. A stirrup-casting for draft-beams, conits opposite ends for the reception of bolts,

- and recesses or cavities formed in the upper sides of said slotted :ends forming seats for the bolt-heads, substantially as described.

through said stirrup-straps and through the through the draft-irons and through the draftl sills, and strap-bolts extending through the said lugs and bolted to the subsills of the car,

the construction being such that the draftirons can be interchanged one for the other, substantially as described.

5; A stirrup-casting for draft-beams, consisting of a rectangular platehavingslots in its opposite ends for the reception of bolts and recesses or cavities formed inthe upper sides of said slotted ends forming seats for the bolt-heads, lugs formedon the under sides of said plate for engaging the opposite sides of the sill and longitudinal ribs formed on the upper and under sides of the plate, substanl MICHAEL J. IIOEY.

lVitnesses:

O. B. REYNOLDS, e F. O. KNIGHT. 

